Dreams
by Kapsule corp
Summary: Another oneshot written on a whim. Just a bit of fluffyness, about K18 on a not so normal shopping trip.


(Kamekid: Hey look everybody Kap made another crappy one-shot.) Gee thanks.

Really though I just wrote this like a month ago, and decided last night "Hey why don't I finish this". I don't think it's A-list material, but it's kinda cute I guess and worth the read if you juat want a little K18 fluffyness.

As far as the inspiration goes, well as some of you know my mom is engaged(spelling?) and so she's been doing our fair share of girly-wedding-play-planning and then recently I watched Garlic Jr, because it's one of my favorite Sagas, b/c a) we get to see Krillin fight, b) fake evil Piccolo is cool and c) Goku doesn't save the day. But anyway so I saw Krillin's Proposal and thought this up.

Now weddings aren't all that appealing to me. I want to get married in the country with just a few friends in a simple casual plain white wedding dress. I want everything semi-formal at most. Seriously. This means I've only been in a bridal shop once so forgive if my describtion of one stinks.

I didn't have this beta-ed because honestly I see no point in beta-ing a one-shot. Stories yes, but one-shots no. I just think weird like that.

Disclaimer: If I owned Dragonball Z the Garlic Jr Saga would have been in the Manga, because it was the 3rd best Saga, behind The Androids(2nd) and Freeza(1st). In my opinion Cell was really cool, but too much like Freeza remixed, and Buu was blown way out of proportion for my taste.

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_Dream_

The weather outside was damp, but sunny. Even though it was in the city many of the shops were outside the mall, so to avoid getting soaked a lot of people stayed home. For it was just after a sun shower. That and it was midday so the streets of the shopping area were fairly empty of other people. Not that Krillin minded it really. In fact he preferred it to the days when it was too busy to even see the floor you were walking on. Quiet days like this were much nicer in his opinion.

He wasn't alone either. His girlfriend, who was currently trying on her umpteenth outfit for the day, seemed to like calming, neat, quiet things as well. 'We really do have a lot in common.'he mused leaning back in his chair and looking toward the ceiling.

At first glance one might not believe such a suggestion, but at the heart of everything the two of them were as alike as they come. Neither enjoyed over stimulating events with a lot of people. Neither cared for being the central attention of everyone. They were both terribly shy, especially when it came to their feelings. Both were extreme neat freaks, and sadly they both had uncomfortable pasts. Really he and she were very similar.

"Do you like this one better than the last one?"the sound of his girlfriend's voice brought him back to earth. He looked down to see her in a short light blue dress with a white belt. It was simple and casual like almost all of her wardrobe, and she looked stunning in it. 18 was the only girl Krillin had ever known who could make capris and vests look amazing enough for a formal ball. She was not facing him, but instead was looking at herself in the full length mirror.

"You're beautiful."he said with such gleam in his eyes no one could mark it as a lie. Of course he would think she was just as beautiful in sweats and a baggy T-shirt. Turning she rolled her eyes at him and turned around a few more times trying to get the best perceptive on herself.

"I **know** you think I'm beautiful Krillin, but do you like this one better than the red one?"she asked again looking only somewhat annoyed, her cheeks stained pink. "I swear you're completely useless to me if you can't answer simple questions."she added almost playfully.

Though it was more pronounced in privacy, Krillin had learned to hear the slight changes in her voice to signify changes in her attitude. Most would find it disheartening and cold. He didn't though. The fact that only he knew her well enough to hear it was something he found special.

"Then don't bring me along next time." he smiled his playfulness much more obvious to an untrained eye.

"Then who will pay for everything?"she asked halting her turns and coming to his side. He stood up to meet her.

"Is that the only reason you stick around me?"he feigned disappointment "Because I buy you new clothes?"

"No."she whispered so only he could hear, "You're also a really good kisser." She smiled as his face broke into a huge blush and she bit her lip so as not to laugh. Then he muttered something she didn't hear. She leaned in and asked him to repeat it louder.

"I said 'I like this one better.' "he sighed blushing worse then before, "It matches your eyes."

"I'll get it then."she answered. She headed for the fitting room to change leaving her blushing boyfriend behind. This was why she brought him along. He always made her feel like she was the only women alive.

Even later when they had paid for their(her) items and were out of the store heading for another she noticed he seemed to have eyes only for her. No matter how many times 18 saw a pretty girl walk passed or there was one near them in the store he never paid them any mind. Unlike all the other men who gawked at her and then turned their attention to the next thing on legs.

She scowled as a perfect example of that made itself apparent. A group of teenage boys caught site of her walking by and began to whistle and hoot in the couple's direction. Though she would have much rather beat the crap out of each and every one of them she decided instead to simply thread her fingers with Krillin's.

That shut them up fast. It always did. Most likely from the shock of seeing that this **gorgeous **women was not only hooked up, but with someone like her boyfriend. 'If only they all knew how wonderful and beautiful you really are underneath.'she sighed inwardly as the couple turned the corner and headed down another street.

'Of course,'she countered in her mind pulling him closer to her, 'then every women on this planet would want you to be theirs. At least this way I get to have you all to myself.' She looked down to see her lover looking at their interlocked hands beaming. She couldn't help, but also smile.

Krillin felt like he was having one of the best days of his life. He was here out with his girlfriend._ His _girlfriend. His smart, talented, attractive and highly adored girlfriend. Not only that, _**but**_ she was holding his hand where everyone could see she was his. Everyone would know they were together, that they were in love. Not like he really needed everyone to know that. He knew it and that was enough, but sometimes. . .

Sometimes it was nice to be able to show the world he could in fact be, and very much was, loved. It was also another thing that he considered special between them. 18 hated public displays of affection in any and every form. Attention made her nervous, like she was the outcast among everyone else. So this kind thing was something she did with him and him only. She only kissed him, or went to dinner with him. Or playfully flirted with him. There was no other man in her life.

Honestly, 18 held his hand often to avoid hormone crazed meat heads from grabbing at her, but more often then not she let go soon after. Not because she didn't want to hold his hand, but because she hated attention. She was actually very shy.

But today was different. They had left those idiots behind them awhile ago yet here she was still holding him close to her.

'She probably feels more relaxed because the street is so empty.'he reasoned looking around. Then unintentionally he noticed that he recognized the area. In fact he was positive he had been here before. When though? They didn't normally go so far out for shopping, and he didn't know anyone in the general area. That was weird when had he been there?

The dull sunlight reflected off a display window nearby and caught the young man's attention. Without thinking he looked in that general direction. He stopped as he saw the shop they were passing. He stared at it and felt a strange nostalgia mixed with regret, not quite knowing why.

Then all at once he realized exactly why it was familiar. He had been here before alright. It was the very same street he and Maron had been walking down when she mentioned she wanted to get married. He saw a different dress was now on display, but that hardly mattered. A quick look across the road, at the enormous and beautiful home she had been so taken with, confirmed that it was the same place. His heart seemed to stop and his good day seemed light years away now.

Suddenly there was pressure against his hand and he noticed that his lover had not released him when he had stopped. Feeling her skin on his, he looked up at the beauty that had captured his heart. Her eyes were soft and curious. His fingers had been slipping out of hers and she was griping them tighter so as not to lose the connection.

Krillin shifted his eyes back to the store as his feelings rapidly begun to change. He felt not regret or sorrow for what happened with his ex, but relief and happiness. For really if Maron had never hurt him, he may have married her then he would not be here with this amazing women. He would not have fallen in love with number 18. He would never know this happiness. In way he felt he should thank her. With that in mind he smiled.

Noticing his face and all the changes he seemed to go through while looking at the store intrigued 18. She gently let go of him and began approaching the entrance. Something about this place interested him and she wanted to know why. She had her hand on the door when he finally noticed her and realized exactly what she was doing. Looking at her, his face became panicked and embarrassed, though he managed to chock out a "What are you doing?"

"Going inside."she answered calmly opening the door. There was a jingle of bells. "You obviously find this to be a place of interest and I want to see why."Without another word she stepped inside. Hastily he followed behind her. The jingle of bells returned as the door closed. The couple gazed around the small, brightly lit shop. The walls were a navy blue and there were spot lights on the many dresses. Women left and right were picking from the models. There was a soft tune of jazz and a scent of jasmine that filled the air around them.

"This is a strange store."18 remarked curiously as she stepped further inside and began to look at the nearest dress. "Why do all the dresses look the same? There is barely a variety at all. There all so frilly and puffy too. Where on earth would one ware such a thing? It's too fancy to do anything in."she continued to examine the specimen before her and contemplate her own questions. It made no sense there seemed no use for them.

"Ah, um. . .18."Krillin piped up nervously. 18 looked up to see him blushing and sweating more then she had ever seen before. Which for Krillin was saying something. He came up to her slowly and stood close enough to lean in by her ear and whisper. "It's a. . .they're. . .they're wedding dresses. You ware them when you get married." he leaned back on his heals still blushing.

18's face softened as she realized why that would make him nervous. It was no secret that Krillin dreamed about marriage and family life. So it certainly wasn't a surprise that he would find the idea of his girlfriend thinking about the subject nerve racking. It would be like his entire dream was hanging on the hinge of her decision. Yet she smiled, even if he was feeling stressed she couldn't help it. He just simply looked so adorable like that.

She looked at the dress again, her smile fading a little. Now that she knew what it was for, it didn't seems as silly. As she understood it, it was an amazingly formal occasion. Though she really didn't understand the importance of marriage. She did know that it was a very big deal to her boyfriend however.

The first time she had asked him about it he had turned beat red and explained it very quickly as promising to spend the whole rest of your life with someone else. She smirked to herself as she remembered how he had nearly fainted when she responded by saying that she wouldn't mind spending the rest of her life with him.

Krillin looked from left to right jittery. He tried hard to keep the blush off his face, but just couldn't. This wasn't fair to 18 though, she never knew why the thought of marriage made him so nervous. The last time it was brought up in relationship it had caused the end of it. Not to mention had thrown him into a fit of stress so deep he had been willing to search the entire ocean for some stupid pearl, and had almost taken it from some helpless fish. He had been so depressed afterward that he had let Maron go. He didn't want to lose 18 that way too. They had only been dating three no, four months. It was too early to lose her.

'But,' a small voice in his mind reminded him, '18 isn't Maron.' That was true. They were as different as could be. Besides Maron had been vague about the whole idea. 18, however had said she would like to spend her life with _him. _Himand not just with someone. Still did that mean... could that mean she would actually be...interested? It could, but was it too early to tell? He didn't know.

"I don't think this would look nice on me."18 commented after inspecting the whole thing. This broke Krillin from his thoughts and he looked from her to the dress confused. She was frowning and looking skeptically at the garment. She shook her head.

"Why not?"he asked looking at the dress as her comment registered. He thought it would look great on her. The light shade blended well with her skin tone, but really not much didn't when it came to her.

"It's just too dressy for me."she answered taking his hand and leading him away. "Not my style at all. Come on let's find something a little less formal." Allowing himself to be dragged through the uncomfortable bridal shop, Krillin had a quick flash back of when Maron had said the dress in the window was perfect. He smiled when he thought of what 18 would look like in that kind of dress. Yet no matter how hard he tried he couldn't picture her smiling because of how much she would hate it. This made him begin to chuckle quietly, his nerves beginning to melt away slightly, but only slightly.

"What's funny."18 asked stopping short. Apparently not too quietly.

"Nothing."he said shaking his head and smiling at her frustrated face. She rolled her eye again and turned away from him. His smiled fell as her face morphed with curiosity. He followed her gaze. In a much smaller section of the store were displays of colorful more plain formal dresses. Many looked identical and some had very strange colors.

"Are those wedding gowns too?"she pointed and asked Krillin, who by now had become rather comfortable. He shock his head, a nervous smile plastered permanently on his face. 18 was so smart when it came to fighting, logic, and mathematics, but she was like a small child when presented with many common day things that people took for granted. It made her appear innocent and gave him a sense gratitude for all the things he missed because he was so used to them.

"No, they're bridesmaids' dresses."he answered as he followed her toward them. She examine them like the gown, but with less attention to detail. She moved through them a little faster. He was right at her side as she did so. She was like a child seeing something strange for the first time, but unlike a child in the amount of interest she lacked in the piece.

"What are bridesmaids?"she asked looking at a very ugly maroon dress. Her boyfriend made a face then went on to explain.

"At a wedding there's something called a wedding party."he explained joining in her search for no one knew what. "The bride has bridesmaids, and the groom has groomsmen. If they want to anyway. They also each have either a maid of honor for the bride and a best man for the groom. They're like the two's closest friends or family." She turned to him a playful smile on her features again.

"Who would you choose?"He seemed surprised at her question and stared for a minute. His nerves jumped back up as he was now added to this wedding planning game. Calming slightly he tried to give her the answer and came to a strange conclusion: he didn't know it. As many times as he pictured getting married he had never thought of it really. His thoughts had always been on his imaginary dream bride, followed by his dream bride Bulma, then his dream bride Maron, now finally, and best of all, his dream bride 18. No one else seemed important.

"Goku."he said after a moment of thought only to realize that he couldn't be there. "If he were around, I guess now it would be between Yamcha and Gohan. Tien would never do it and neither would Chiaotzu. I'd be lucky if those two even showed up, they're like hermits sometimes."he laughed loudly when she mentioned Master Roshi.

"Master!"his voice echoed loudly. "Let's just say I'd rather not have to pull him off you when he made a move at the alter, it might ruin the mood and romance of it all." 18 smiled at this, not so much at the fact that the situation was very possible and extremely funny, but because he had openly implied she would be the one he was marrying in that situation. Krillin looked away and laughed nervously when he too realized he had done so.

"So who would you pick?"he asked switching the spotlight to her instead of himself.

"I don't know."she mused looking at another losing dress, "I don't have many friends so I guess I'd have to pick from your. So most likely the widow of Goku. Chi-chi, I believe. She's always been rather accepting of me. And more importantly of us." She turned around again and was facing a lovely long yellow dress. It's bottom was only slightly ruffled and it had lace in all the right places. It would have covered every bit of skin it's owner had and had an old fashion beauty to it. She held to bottom with care and sighed "In this."

"Yeah, Chi would look great in that."Krillin agreed nodding. Then he saw a much more modern yellow dress next to it. It's neckline dipped down and the bottom was more skirt-like then the one in front of them. He pointed to it. "Bulma would want to ware that though."

Looking at it 18 scowled slightly recalling the blue haired women. Though 18 had never met the girl, she knew she had a distaste for her already. From what she had heard, not only did she disapprove of their relationship, but as she understood it the women and Krillin had been involved at times in the past. She didn't get how her boyfriend expected her to be on okay terms with his former crush. Krillin smiled and took her hand in his. He leaned up very close to her ear whispered, "You're jealous."

Angrily she pulled away and left the area heading back toward the other dresses. "Come on." she said over her shoulder, "I thought we were looking at the wedding gowns."she ended with a smile as his deep blush and his half nervous, half dreamy smile returned to his face. If she had counted correctly she had made him blush 17 times that day. She wondered briefly turning back around if any other boys in the world were as adorable as her little man, she doubted it.

Quickly he ran to catch up and bumped into her back as she stopped abruptly. She was frozen in place starring straight ahead her eyelids half closed, as if in a trance. Shifting his gaze from her face, which could be a hard task at times, he looked in the direction she faced as well. His eyes widened when he saw what she was looking at.

It was a silvery-white dress. It was shorter than many of the others and had a smaller bottom. It had just the right amount of lace around the neck and short sleeved arms. It had the casual feel to it that all of 18's wardrobe had, but was at the same time stunning and glamorous in a simple way. There was beauty in this kind of simplicity, he knew for fact, for 18 shared this same quality.

It was perfect for her.

They stood for a what seemed like an eternity just starring at it. Then a happy content blush crept on to both their faces as their hands involuntarily intertwined. They saw and felt it at the same time. All their time there they had each been secretly picking and choosing. They were planing the most important day of their lives in the back of their minds. And while their ideas may have differed on size, location, and other small unremembered details one thing was fact. There partner had been next to them the whole time. Their plans always included each other.

"It's late."Krillin's voice surprised them both. Their faces both faltered as they realized their fantasy was over. They had been playing wedding most of the afternoon, but now it was over. Far too soon for either of their tastes, but over none the less. He needed to head back home before the other members of his household starved. No one in that place did any chores but him.

He let go and walked back down the aisle toward the door to leave, but she stayed put, her eyes still on the dress: her dress. She wasn't ready to leave, she wanted to stay here and live in this dream. It was the most beautiful of all her others.

All this time she had thought she was playing with him. That they were having fun and teasing each other about the idea of getting married. Yet somewhere she was very aware of how real it was, of how serious she had been. Nothing about today had been a game at all.

"18."she turned to find her boyfriend at the door calling her name. Still though she couldn't leave her dream. So as she looked at him her mind's eye morphed the scene before her combining the two into one.

She was no longer in a bridal shop, but a small church, with stained glass windows and a high steeple. There were people sat in pews around her, not many just a small number of friends. She stood at the end of a aisle in _her _wedding dress.

"18. " her boyfriend called again. Looking up she saw him not at the door, but at the end of her aisle. Dressed in his best white suit he stood waiting at an alter. Waiting for her, and only her. His hand outstretched, ready to take her in his arms forever. This brought a smile to her face. A large warm smile. She walked toward him. Yet the closer she came the more her daydream faded, but her smiled remained.

"Ready?" he asked as they stepped into the sunlight. She captured his hand in her own and locked her eyes with his. Krillin froze at the intensity behind her icy orbs. She sighed quietly and moved a little closer to him. Then after a moment she answered.

"Yes, Krillin. I think I am."she whispered with confidence. Krillin stared back as her words began taking effect in his mind. Slowly she rose into the sky and flew towards home her packages safely in her arms. Krillin watched her for a moment before rising to follow.

"I think I am too."he whispered as his girlfriend came into sight again. Krillin smiled as he caught up with her, knowing exactly what he had to do next.

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No really that's it. I wanted this ending because I think it's clear on what Krillin has to do next. I left the actually proposal out because it made the story less meaningful. If I had to spell out what this trip did for them then the story loses significance.(Kamekid: She's serious.) 

Please don't argue my views on my favorite sagas in a review. If you think the Garlic Saga sucked and Buu was the best of them all then fine. Ranting about it won't change my mind though so please don't bother. Your review will simply be ignored and deleted.

Review please

Kap.


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